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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Call 518-463-1151 to make a reservation or to purchase your tickets with a credit card!

The University Club of Albany has received notice from the National Park Service that it has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States’ official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The designation took effect on May 11. (http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20110520.htm)

To celebrate, the Club is reviving a tradition from Albany’s past.

On Monday, June 13, the University Club will host A Pinkster Day Celebration from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., honoring Albany’s rich history with readings from scholarly and popular publications documenting the people and places of New York’s capital city. The event will feature a cocktail reception with light fare and open bar as well as celebrity readers.

Readings and readers for A Pinkster Day Celebration were selected to illustrate the long arc of Albany’s history, and the evening’s program will include excerpts from:

Rum Punch and Cultural Revolution written and read by Justin DiVirgilio; The Northern Star & Freemen’s Advocate published by Stephen Myers, read by Paul Stewart;

Thirty Years of Smoke, Heat and Hell written by Warren Abriel, read by Executive Deputy Chief Warren Abriel, Jr. of the Albany Fire Department, who was elected President of the University Club’s board of directors on May 20; and

Six and Eleven written and read by Ed Dague.

Tickets for A Pinkster Day Celebration are $50 and reservations can be made by calling the University Club at 518-463-1151. Hosted by the University Club Foundation, a 501c3 corporation, the celebration is open to the public and one need not be a member to attend.

Since 1901 the University Club has occupied only two clubhouses (with temporary use of the Fort Orange Club and the former Albany Institute building on State Street while various construction projects occurred). The first location was at 99 Washington Avenue roughly across the street from the current Fort Orange Club from 1901 to 1907.

In 1907 the club purchased the Victorian-era Queen Anne style home of the late George Amsdell (1825-1906), a local brewer and proprietor of the Amsdell Brewing Company on Lancaster and Jay Streets, the largest brewery in the area at the time. Located at the corner of Washington Avenue and Dove Street, the house was fully renovated in 1914 when the Club added a modern extension off the rear to house a restaurant and additional sleeping rooms.

Less than a decade later, in November of 1923, a fire resulted in the demolition of the Amsdell home. The present clubhouse was constructed in 1924-25 to the design of Albert Fuller & William Robinson.

The University Club is one of the four component buildings of one of Albany’s most architecturally compatible and imposing intersections. The red brick building in the Colonial Revival style was the last major commission Fuller, a prolific Albany architect. The main entrance to the Club, on Dove Street, features an entry porch with 4 sets of paired columns surmounted by an architrave, a cornice, and a decorative iron balustrade. The main interior spaces on the first floor are large, formal and elegant, and largely unchanged from the date of construction.

“This is a tremendous distinction for the University Club, and recognizes our important role in Albany’s history,” said Colleen Ryan, elected Vice President of the Club’s board of directors on May 20. “We are delighted that our clubhouse will take its place on the National Register, a list that includes Albany City Hall, Cherry Hill, the Ten Broeck Mansion, and our neighbors the Harmanus Bleecker Library and Albany Institute of History and Art.”

The nomination was prepared by Kimberly Konrad Alvarez of Landmark Consulting in Albany, and was recommended for National Register listing on March 9 by the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

The celebration of Pinkster Day was outlawed by Albany Common Council on April 28, 1811, with a resolution that read in part, “No person shall erect any tent, booth or stall within the limits of this city, for the purpose of vending any spirituous liquors, beer, mead or cider, or any kind of meat, fish cakes or fruit, on the days commonly called Pinxter...” Club members requested that the Common Council repeal the ban, and the prohibition was lifted on May 16, 2011.

The University Club was founded by a distinguished group of prominent citizens of the Albany area in order to “establish and maintain assembly rooms, promote social activities among the members and cultivate and maintain university spirit in the City of Albany.” One hundred and ten years later, this tradition endures. The University Club continues to attract the best and brightest from all walks of life and to offer services and facilities that respond to the current social and business needs of a diverse and distinctive membership. For more information, visit www.universityclubalbany.com .

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Bring the kids to the University Club on Friday, June 3 for a special "early-bird" program from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Please join your friends and neighbors -- and families -- as we welcome Ruth Pelham, the musician and educator who brought the Music Mobile to Albany in 1977!

Ruth Pelham brings to the world a fresh vision of world peace and social change. With a voice and vision that have earned her the affection and trust of audiences young and old alike, Ruth’s music touches our common heart and renews our hope for humanity's ability to grow toward a lasting world peace.

The kitchen will be open for dinner until 9:00 p.m. – please call 518-463-1151 for reservations.

The performance is free and open to the public as part of the University Club’s participation in 1st Friday, the downtown arts walk that showcases the thriving and lively art scene in downtown Albany.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Meet the Designers and Enjoy “A Symphony of Past and Present Beauty” After Lunch at University Club on 5/19

Built in 1839 and previously home to a merchant, a physician, and political leaders, Prospect Place is open to the public for a limted time as the 2011 Vanguard Designer Showhouse.

“A Symphony of Past and Present Beauty” is slated for Thursday, May 19 at 12:30 p.m. and begins with a hot and cold buffet at the University Club of Albany, 141 Washington Avenue at Dove Street. The luncheon will feature a presentation from local author and historian Peter Hess, who will discuss the history of the home.

Participants will depart the Club for Prospect Place (10 Stafford Street in Loudonville) at 1:30 p.m., for a guided tour at 2:00 p.m. The tour takes place on “Meet the Designers” day and will offer an opportunity for visitors to speak to the designers about the rooms they have created.

The University Club of Albany Foundation, Inc. is presenting this event in conjunction with Vanguard Albany Symphony, Inc., and one need not be a member of the University Club to attend. The cost for the luncheon and lecture is $30 and includes admission to the Vanguard Show House. Reservations please — call the University Club at 518-463-1151.

A portion of the proceeds from this event benefit the University Club Foundation, formed to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the University Club building and property, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901. Events presented or sponsored by the Foundation can be found online at www.uclubevents.blogspot.com .

The Vanguard Designer Showhouse is an annual benefit for the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Prospect Place is open for tours through May 22, for more information visit www.vanguardshowhouse.org .

“Folk singer-guitarist Beth Wood has such a dazzling voice it’s a mystery why she’s still just a cult artist.”-- Dallas Morning News

Friday, May 13th Reception ~ 6:00 pm Concert ~ 7:00 pm

University Club of Albany 141 Washington Avenue at Dove Street Tickets $25An intimate concert in the historic University Club’s Parlor. Proceeds benefit the University Club Foundation, a 501c3 corporation, and a portion of your contribution may be tax-deductible. One need not be a member to attend.

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The University Club Foundation, a 501c3 corporation, was formed to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the National Register-listed University Club building, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901.